


Surf & Turf

by gentleThaumaturge (roughmagic)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Multi, holy trifecta of enormous hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-27
Updated: 2011-12-27
Packaged: 2017-10-28 07:06:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/305140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roughmagic/pseuds/gentleThaumaturge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aradia is on an island with the two girls she loves.<br/>Feferi is on an island with the human she loves.<br/>Jade is on an island.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surf & Turf

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SnowQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowQueen/gifts).



> This was originally an art fill, but there ended up being a bit of text that went along with it, which surprised me by writing itself as I worked on the painting!

It’s not just your island, anymore.

Aradia has explained to you that the environment is a remarkably smooth blend of Earth and Alternian memories-- yours, hers, and Feferi’s. The bubble is all about integration and balance. Nothing too dangerous left over from Alternia, but enough of that world to keep the two trolls happy. If you all tried hard, you could probably get an important feature to appear, but so far everyone had been very pleased with the jungle, the beaches, and the snowy white hive that spiraled upwards at the center of the island like a bleached bone.

The group decision was to try and explore the island, make a map. It was something to do, really, more than anything. That’s your reason for being somewhere roughly near the south side of the island, surrounded by jungle. It turns out you’re all great adventurers, but subpar map-makers. That’s okay, though, who really cares? The sun has just ducked below the tree level, drawing a soft blanket of purple over the sky in its wake, and the jungle has opened up into a series of tidepools, the water fresh enough to support smallish lily pads and occasional clumps of unfamiliar reeds. Dream bubbles, you are realizing, play loosey-goosey with ecosystems and marine habitats like nobody’s business.

“Do you think they’re filled with rainwater?” Aradia asks, on your right.

“Let’s find out!” Feferi says, already halfway out of her shirt.

“I’ll let you do that,” You say, setting down the unrealistically light backpack the three of you share on an outcropping of reddish sandstone. “I’m still drying out after that waterfall.”

Aradia smells strongly of the ivory-colored flowers that bloom in thick drapes in the most dense parts of the jungle. She loves human flowers, she told you the first time you picked a few to give to her, not even thinking about the gesture. ‘Alternian flowers are usually just pollination mechanisms for a more purposeful plant,’ she said, in the same wistful way Feferi talked about migratory Alternian reefs that ate seafaring vessels. You had thought about telling her that Earth flowers are pretty cutthroat in their own ways, but she had distracted you by pressing her lips to the inside of your wrist. You had stammered out enough about Earth botany to successfully change the subject, but you thought of the texture of her lips every time you saw those flowers.

The same white flowers hang in a crown above her cloud of hair now, a few shades whiter than her dress. The day has been long enough and tiring enough that she doesn’t feel the need to be practical, which you appreciate. Aradia is the most industrious of the three of you, and you like to see her relax.

You stretch, tired, but not exhausted. Feferi is already at the edge of the nearest pool, her form backlit by the light still lingering on the horizon, testing the water with her feet. “It’s warm!” She calls, delighted.

“Are you going to swim in every body of water on the entire island?”

“Yes!” Her grin is like looking at a piano, if all the keys were scalpels. You still like her smile the same way you like scary movies and standing on dangerous ledges, as in, you probably shouldn’t.

She slips into the pool in a graceful, natural motion, giggling and kicking off the rock walls. You’re not sure how you feel about diving into unexplored pools in the middle of a jungle as the sun sets, but if Feferi isn’t cautious, you probably don’t have anything to worry about. Settling down at the edge of the pool, you rest your feet over the edge, the warm, slightly slimy water slopping around your calves. There must be algae in there you can’t see in this light.

“Come on in!” Feferi’s arms cinch around your calves, actually lifting you up before she pulls you deeper into the pool, warm water rushing past your hips and lapping at the smoothed rock walls, the skirt of your sarong clinging to the surface.

“Feferi, no!” It comes out a little more sharply than you meant it to, but she merely slips underwater without you, arms and hands letting go as she vanishes into the dark. You cling to the bank, as Aradia settles down beside you, dipping her toes in.

“Don’t worry, Jade,” She says, the fondness in her voice obvious. “Feferi wouldn’t hurt you for the world.”

“She wouldn’t _mean_ to.” You reply, the grit of the stone digging into your elbows as you keep yourself propped out of the water. The few lily pads that support flowers are beginning to open to the night air, and the songs of all the creatures are starting to hum from the jungle. Some of them you know by heart, some of them you’ve never heard before.

“Would you like to get out?”

“No, I’m okay.” You turn around, to kick idly at the dark expanses of the pool as you lean back on your elbows.

Feferi abruptly surfaces nearby, transitioning seamlessly from water to air. “It’s much deeper than it looks! Jade! Do you want to touch the bottom with me?”

“No, thanks. I’m alright here.”

“Are you shore? There’s all kinds of stuff down there!”

“One ‘no’ is enough, Feferi.” Aradia pipes up.

“What aboat you, Aradia?” Feferi asks, now with the tone of someone telling a great joke. She knows Aradia can’t swim, and has so far shown no inclination to want to learn. “All you have to do is hold your breath!”

“No, thank you.” The other troll replies, with an archness that belies hurt feelings.

“You codn’t even manage that?”

“Hey!” You can see a budding argument a mile away, and you’re not having it. “Break it up, you two.”

“Sorry, Jade.” Aradia is almost always the first to apologize, with acceptance rather than remorse.

“Just finning around, Jade!” Feferi adds, sinking lower in the water and staring up at you.

There's a moment of silence, and you wonder if you'd jumped in too quickly. Arguments were okay, but you just... didn't want to have to see it. It was a big island. They could go somewhere else to fight. You'd had enough fighting. The lilies were bioluminescent, you noticed.

“Let’s just stay where we are.” You suggest. “Feferi’s happy in the water, and Aradia’s happy on land. Simple!”

Aradia smooths your hair, gently. “What about you?”

Feferi's eyes “Are you happy?”

“Yeah! Of course I am.” You answer before you can think about it. They know you well enough by now to see that.

Aradia takes your hand, lifting it to kiss your knuckles. Feferi’s arms, stronger than yours will ever be, curl around your waist. You’re not sure you want them to touch you, but you’re not sure you don’t want them to. You know you could say stop, and they would, and many times before this you’ve thought about it, if just to end the confusion. You know you could probably love them, with time. If you don’t already. You know that Aradia has feelings for Feferi, and for you, and you suspect this must be harder for her than it is for you. You know Feferi would tear this island in half if you wanted it, and would. Gleefully. You know the the glowing from the lilies is bright and even, and it would take a moment for your eyes to adjust from the light for you to see the stars clearly. You know they’re waiting for an answer to an unspoken question.

You know a lot of things, but you don’t know what you want.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for a lovely prompt! c:


End file.
